Together
by HoneyBear1874
Summary: Naruto and Gaara meet at the park. Pre-slash Child!AU NaruGaa.
1. Chapter 1

"Hi!" Naruto greeted Gaara who clutched his bear closely to his chest; he looked at Naruto uncertainly, and wary.

"H-Hi." he nearly whispered back; Naruto tilted his head confused. Was this kid scared of him or something? His mom had told him some kids were shy; maybe this guy was. Naruto decided to try being extra nice and friendly, so he wouldn't feel scared, like his mom told him.

"I'm making a sandcastle! Want to help? Aren't you bored on the swings by yourself?" Gaara seemed to consider his invitation, but ultimately shook his head.

"Um, no, I'm fine. Thanks though." he mumbled and looked back down at the ground. He didn't feel comfortable around this other loud boy; besides, what if he made fun of him too?

Naruto lingered for a moment before shrugging and running back to the sandbox; maybe the kid was fine or annoyed that he was being bothered.

" _Well, I guess I can just build it myself_." he thought somewhat sadly as he dumped water onto his hill of sand and tried to sculpt a tower.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked wrinkling his nose; his mother insisted he and Naruto play together, being neighbors and all. He didn't exactly dislike Naruto, but the kid was so loud and annoying; not to mention he seemed to always be yelling at Sasuke about something.

"It's a castle, duh!" Naruto replied, mimicking Sasuke's snooty tone. " _That jerk is always picking on me!_ " Naruto thought frustrated.

"You're not better than me Sasuke! My castle is gonna be a zillion hundred times better than yours!" he shouted.

Sasuke rolled his yes. "Whatever. That's not even a real number, idiot."

"Shut up!" Naruto retorted and turned his back o his neighbor; he wanted to keep his castle from Sasuke's view. No way would he copycat Naruto's masterpiece!

Gaara looked on at the scene longingly. " _That looks like fun…_ " he thought holding his teddy bear closer. Suddenly, he heard Naruto's voice cry out; his castle had completely fallen apart!

"I told you before not to add so much water." Sasuke reprimanded still putting the finishing touches on his own perfectly solid tower.

"Leave me alone!" Naruto demanded; he turned away again so Sasuke wouldn't see him tearing up.

" _Stupid Sasuke._ " he thought sniffling. " _He thinks he's so great! I worked really hard on my castle._ " he looked down crestfallen at his tower. He picked up his little shovel with a huff; he'd show that jerk!

Naruto was about to fling the toy at Sasuke's head, but as he turned around he came face to face with Gaara, who blushed slightly in embarrassment; he had been standing behind Naruto trying to force words out.

"I'll help you fix it." he offered timidly. "Don't cry; want to hold my bear?" he asked holding out his favorite toy in the whole world.

"I wasn't crying!" Naruto defended rubbing his eyes vigorously; Gaara shrank back. He looked ready to cry himself; Naruto immediately felt guilty for his outburst.

"I'm sorry. I like your teddy bear. My name's Naruto. I like you, you're a nice person." he said hugging Gaara in apology; Gaara was surprised at this, but smiled as Naruto pulled away and gave him a thumbs up.

"We can build a castle for your bear!" Naruto added excitedly; Gaara nodded his head quickly and they began to build a new tower. When they finished they seated the teddy bear on the very top.

"Wow, it looks great! You're good at making sand castles Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed.

Gaara blushed pleased at the compliment. "I have my own sandbox in my yard."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? That's so cool! I have my own swing set; I wish I had a raccoon though, but my mommy says they bite people…." he mentioned.

"I'm sorry, I don't have a raccoon. Maybe you can come to my house and we can make sandcastles again?" Gaara offered timidly.

"That'd be awesome! Let's go ask mom now!" Naruto began to run off before pausing and facing Gaara again. "Sorry, what's your name?" he asked bashful.

"Gaara."

"Can we be friends Gaara? I promise I won't be mean; I'm only mean to Sasuke, cause he's mean to me." he explained.

Gaara picked up his bear from the castle by it paw; he held out the other paw to Naruto shyly. "Ok. I like you too Naruto." he nodded smiling softly.

Naruto beamed back at him and took hold of the bear's paw; they all held hands as they went to find Naruto's mom.

Before they did that, Gaara ran back to the sandbox real quick and kicked Sasuke's castle down; the two friends (with the bear) ran off holding hands and giggling.

It was the start of a beautiful relationship.


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you doing?"

Naruto turned to Gaara with a blank face. "Playing in the leaves."

"Oh." Gaara looked slightly confused. "I thought you dropped something in there." he said gesturing to the huge pile of red and orange leaves.

"No, just playing." Naruto was equally confused. "Haven't you done that before?"

Gaara shook his head timidly; was he supposed to? Was Naruto going to think he was weird?

"Well, come on, lets platy together now!" Naruto giggled and threw some leaves in the air; they crinkled and crackled together and one flew into Gaara's hair.

As he pulled out the dead leaf, Gaara smiled a bit, but then frowned sadly. "I don't know how."

"That's okay. Here," Naruto stood up walked over to Gaara with a grin. "I'll teach you."

"Now first, all you have to do is jump in the pile!" Naruto whooped with laughter and jumped in once again sending dozens of leaves flying; Gaara looked at them uncertainly.

"It's okay Gaara, just do what I did."

"But it's disrespectful Naruto."

"Huh?"

Gaara fidgeted with his hands. "Well, my mom says these leaves are dead leaves and that's why they turn different colors. Isn't this disrespectful to the dead?"

Naruto stared at him dumbly. "No, I don't think so. Leaves don't have souls or anything, so it's okay."

"Are you sure?"

Naruto grinned reassuringly and nodded. "Of course! Come on Gaara, just jump in like I did." Gaara hooped right beside Naruto in the pile.

"Woohoo."

"Close enough…" Naruto said sheepishly. "Now we throw the leaves around like this." He threw fistfuls of leaves into the air and giggled at the astonishment on Gaara's face.

Gaara picked up a few and threw them up in the air; they landed on Naruto's head.

"Hey!" Naruto laughed and threw some at Gaara. "Got you!" he cried triumphantly.

Gaara's mouth trembled and tears came to his eyes.

"Gaara? What's wrong?!" Naruto asked panicked: he rushed over and gave Gaara a big hug.

"You threw leaves at me." Gaara said sniffling a little. Naruto frowned a bit confused.

"Well, yeah, it's how you play Gaara; we throw leaves at each other, but we're not actually fighting." Naruto tried to explain. "It's like how we play dodgeball, except with leaves and it doesn't even hurt."

Gaara had stopped crying, but he still looked a bit sad. "So, you're still my friend?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Duh! We're best friends!" He hugged Gaara again and kissed his cheek sweetly.

"Okay." Gaara smiled softly and kissed his cheek back.

Then he threw a fistful of leaves right in Naruto's face.

"Got ya."


End file.
